Galli-Curci, Amelita [key], 1889–1963, Italian coloratura soprano. She studied piano at the Milan Conservatory and meanwhile trained her own voice. From the time she made her debut in the role of Gilda in Rigoletto in 1906 until goiter forced her retirement from opera in 1930, her full and golden voice won great praise; at her best she was not excelled by any coloratura of her day. After her American debut (Chicago, 1916) she sang with the Chicago Opera Company until 1924. At the Metropolitan Opera, New York City, she sang first in 1921 and regularly from 1926 to 1930, presenting all the standard coloratura roles.
See biography by C. E. Le Massena (1945).
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